Nicknames
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: Tenth in the Polygamy Project series! Derek Morgan may not understand what Savannah's problem is with the nicknames, but the morning after the official end of the polygamy project, he's got only one title on his mind. "His."


**Here we go - big number ten for the Polygamy Project series! Derek Morgan, everybody. There's a throwback in here to the third chapter of "The Heart of the Matter." Enjoy!:)**

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Derek Morgan had meant what he had said to the guys in the man cave below his duplex a week ago. He really didn't know why Savannah had thrown a fit at him about his calling the other three women in the house by pet names. She knew that was his thing, and she had never minded it before, so why now? Was it like Will had said? Was she insecure in their relationship? _That _insecure?

Well, maybe so… Maybe she had seen the way some of his old and previously long-buried romantic feelings for Penelope and Jordan had started to resurface without his trying to push them back down. Because here they were, the night before they hit the two-week mark and were allowed to go back home if they so chose, and she was throwing another temper tantrum – big time; screaming, throwing things at him, the whole deal, and Derek was just about done with all that was Savannah in a big way.

"Savannah!" he tried again, literally dodging the bedside lamp that she aimed at his head.

They were plunged into darkness and he reached for her before she grabbed something else and threw it at him when he couldn't see it coming. Once he was close enough to grab hold of her arms, he was surprised to smell beer on her breath. Oh, and didn't that explain a lot!

"Baby, all I'm asking is that we stay one more day – you, me, Penelope, and Jordan – and talk out the future of this thing tomorrow evening once we get home from work. That's it."

"And I'm saying no, Derek! If you even think that maybe I'm not enough for you, then I guess you won't miss me when I'm gone – and gone I will be within the next five minutes if you do not pack and come with me, do you understand me?"

"Savannah, be reasonable; it's midnight!"

"Which means I have been here two weeks and am now free to leave. Are you coming with me or not?"

"What?" Derek asked, still feeling mildly confused by – and tired of – it all. "No! It's too late for either of us to be going anywhere."

"The only thing it's too late for is the continuing of your relationship with me if you don't meet me at the car in five minutes, Derek Morgan."

She sounded calm when she said it – so calm, in fact, that Derek realized not only was she not mindlessly drunk like he had thought her to be, but she meant every word that was coming out of her mouth.

And yet he maintained his answer, saying, disheartened but calm, "No, Savannah, I'm not coming with you; there are things here that I need to get figured out for myself."

"Fine," she snarled. "Then go cry to Penelope, because I am leaving, and you will not be stopping me."

And he didn't stop her. She left within those next predicted five minutes, and Tamara, too, was gone by the time he woke up the next morning.

"Derek?" Jordan asked in concern when he came down to the kitchen the following morning, already dressed for work.

"What?" he asked, pretending to be clueless.

"Are you and Savannah okay?" Penelope asked, her concern mirroring Jordan's.

"Nope," Derek said casually, taking a sip of the coffee that his Baby Girl handed him. "We definitely broke up last night."

"Are _you_ okay then?" Jordan asked carefully.

Derek thought about this for a second before answering honestly, "Yeah. We kinda had our problems from the beginning…" he grinned then at the two women who remained in his house, adding, "After all, I have you two, don't I?"

The air was much freer now, he realized, and they were all being more open, more honest since Savannah and Tamara were gone. Even in the few minutes that he had been downstairs with them, he could feel it. It meant something – something important – to the three of them that the two week mark on the polygamy project had passed, and yet they chose to remain.

Penelope and Jordan both nodded and then the three of them just looked at one another for a second, smiling and happy. When he registered the meaning behind those looks of Jordan's and Penelope's, it hit Derek Morgan. He didn't need to have some big meeting with these two women after work tonight. The fact that they had remained with him here this morning said more than enough, and all three of them knew it. They had stayed because they wanted to – because they wanted to become one, long-term family unit.

Polygamy was an odd arrangement; he was no idiot, he knew that – but it suddenly didn't matter to him. And neither did those stupid nicknames that Savannah had gotten so upset over. Penelope and Jordan had stayed here and wanted to stay with him; Savannah hadn't and didn't, so he could call his two "wives" whatever he felt like calling them. Right now, in this instant, he was content – no, thrilled – to call them simply _his_.

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